A good marketing brief leads to great design and print

Collaborative relationships are key

We've been involved in design and print for long enough to know that clients who delighted with the finished products have been vested in the process from the time they first contacted us. Conversely, the opposite is true when someone is not quite so happy.

An important part of how a designer and printer adds calue is helping the client to understand what they want. They may not even themselves, esecially if they don't buy design and print services frequently. We know from feedback from our business clients that they really value input from us to bring more clarity to a brief. Even when we are working with a marketing agency, they know more about design and print but few would class themselves as experts.

What makes a good design brief

Even if you don't know exactly what you want, have a clear idea in your mind about who the print job is for and how you envisage them using it and in qhat quantities.

• Is the job that you are briefing in entirely stand alone or is it complimentary with other pieces of collateral (either past for future)
• Do you have or own the images that are to use used in the print job
• Do you have an idea of word count?
• Have you seen or become aware of anything similar that might give a designer an idea of what you have in mind
• What timescale are you working to

What is the budget?

We don't expect you to know how much design and print costs. Based on what you tell us we can provide a price range and you can decide if that is acceptable. In many cases the budget can flex to meet the brief. For example there are different options for print finishing (coatings and coverings to the printed pages). Finishing costs vary and it's an area where savings could be made without materailly affecting the final product.